CHAPTER 73: DISCIPLE CULTIVATION SYSTEM CH73 I HAVE BEEN HOLDING BACK

"Aura Burst!"

Those words sounded like a divine judgment from the gods.

It began with a subtle glow.

Kai, activating his intent, tried digging his blade into Art’s neck and Enko’s punch had almost made contact.

They both knew it wouldn’t be enough, but by all means, they intended to stop his activation.

Because they could feel the aura.

The sheer scale of the aura circulating through his body was at the level of an "Ascent" and as pure as chi.

Such aura, when unleashed, wouldn’t just completely eliminate them but shatter the dimensions when unleashed.

Kai, his sword drawing near, went pale, a familiar sensation flooding his memories.

This aura... he had once been crushed by something similar.

From the Sword Saint, after he threatened to kill her.

"No... not now."

Feeling hesitation, he wrapped as much aura as he could into his sword to end this but...

"Expansion."

His sword clashed with a transparent golden barrier that shielded Art.

"Aura Burst... this isn’t...."

Before he could finish, the barrier ignited and burst into a shockwave that sent both him and Enko flying back.

Enko sustained herself by igniting her feet in flames and propelling herself up, while Kai spun and stabbed his blade into the ground to kill his flight.

Coming to a halt a few distances away, he collapsed to the ground, his hands trembling slightly.

"Aura Burst is a release state."

Wrapping his whole body in golden aura, Art casually advanced towards them, his aura fluttering behind him like a cape made of gold.

The sight was chilling and divine.

Like a divine being gracing the world with his presence.

The sand underneath his feet parted and the very space he stood in rippled... glitching and unable to sustain him.

"My intent is Power... I can generate and control an enormous amount of aura. I can shape its form... and its nature."

Extending the length of his blade, he dragged it across the ground and stared coldly at them.

"As long as my reserves are full, not even Grim can defeat me."

A day ago, maybe Grim might have had a chance, but after what he experienced the previous night, it would take an Ascent-class opponent like Cassandra to fight him.

This dimension had been created to sustain anything below that, hence he couldn’t unleash his full output, but he didn’t need his strongest attacks to defeat these kids.

They might be called geniuses, but that was their potential. Currently, they were fodder to him.

And as he promised, he wouldn’t play with them. He’d end this in one strike and turn his attention to Valeria and the little witch hiding from him.

"Hehe... what a day!"

Enko, forcing herself up, commented, the white tattoo inscribed on her body flickering with flames.

"I lost to a psycho... had my pride wounded and was emotionally scarred, and you think calling yourself an Ascent will scare me..."

Her auburn hair ignited into untamed orange flames and her golden eyes grew slits.

She then stomped the ground, trying to ease Art’s pressure on them by unleashing her own.

Orange mana clashed with golden aura. It wasn’t a deadlock nor a tide because hers was easily extinguished by Art’s greater pressure, and yet it didn’t give up.

It burned with intensity, full of raw emotions.

Whereas Art’s own was rigid and unmoving, hers was fluid and lifelike, continuously eating away at Art’s aura.

"Hey, you..."

Turning to Kai, who refused to stand up, she screamed, causing him to flinch.

"You wanted to defeat a Saint, right?"

Stretching out her hand toward him, she grinned, gesturing for him to take her aid.

"This will be your first step."

Kai’s despair morphed into a warm smile.

He then clutched his heart and closed his eyes, whispering something to himself.

When all of this happened, Art didn’t move. He kept his gaze fixated on their ongoing growth, and right after Kai opened his eyes, the golden sword in his hand moved forward in a slash.

Kai rolled to the side to dodge the golden slash before picking himself up and charging at Art from the side.

Enko, keeping Art’s pressure at bay, whispered a chant and infused Kai’s sword with her flames.

Kai lifted his feet off the ground and spun in the air, following with a dazzling swing that traced a circle of flames.

Art blocked his attack, resulting in a powerful shockwave that spread through the vicinity and left massive cracks underneath him.

"Good!" he muttered and pushed him back.

He then pursued Kai in the process and thrusted his sword forward.

Kai, without his heels touching the ground, leaped back, dodged under the swing of his sword by ducking, and launched himself underneath Art to push his hands up.

A spear made of ice whistled in the air once again as Art tried regaining his stance.

In an attempt to block it, he swung his blade at it, still keeping an eye on Kai in the process.

With Kai lunging at him and the spear coming from behind him, he prepared to intercept both.

He was ready, he was stronger than ever.

His aura burned, his gaze sharpened, his body was steeled to perfection.

Confident in his victory, he moved a step forward, tearing through the ice spear with a precise cut that cleaved it into two equal parts.

He then took one hand from his sword and grabbed hold of Kai. Tearing the youth’s feet off the ground, he raised him up and slammed him back down with a powerful force.

Kai coughed up a mouthful of blood and yet his gaze scared Art.

The youth was losing, he was on the ground bleeding and being strangled on the neck by him.

In a few seconds, he would be eliminated and yet his gaze was purposeful, like a soldier after they completed a mission successfully.

"No..."

Art felt an indescribable chill and glanced at Enko.

The girl was far too preoccupied with keeping his pressure at bay, so where the heck was the chill coming from?

The answer manifested itself not before him but rather behind him, as the space ripped and a lovely girl with white hair leaped out.

Before he could turn, she plunged the spear in her hand into his back, nailing him into the sandy road.